There was no question about any of it. “Yes, yes, Dionysus!”
He slid a beautiful diamond on my finger, and when he stood, I kissed him. I kissed him like the very first time under the fireworks on New Year’s Day. We had gotten so lost in the kiss that I felt us being pulled apart.
“A’ight, damn! A nigga don’t want to see all that shit.”
Dio pushed at his chest and waved him off. “Man, Chev, you can’t say shit now. Get over it.”
Zaria tugged on Chevy’s arm and pulled him away. I knew he did all that talking, but deep down, he loved Dio. Chevy knew that with all he told me about Dio, he wouldn’t want me to be with anyone else.
The girls came over to me, squealing in excitement as they glanced at my engagement ring. We laughed and giggled while the guys stood near Dio, congratulating him. This moment was one I would never forget, one that needed to be in full color on a canvas.
For the next hour, we laughed, danced, ate, and celebrated not only this moment of love but also my leaving. I knew I was coming back, but the moment itself felt bittersweet. From the newfound friendships and family to me growing, learning, and becoming a better woman each day.
As things began to wind down, Dio wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear, “You ready to go?”
I glanced around at everybody. “But people are still partying.”
“Don’t worry. We’re going to party, alright,” he mumbled.
He pulled at my hand until we left the cabin. Once we were on the dock, he picked me up and carried me to his Benz. Dio kissed and pecked the back of my hand as he drove.
Each time he took peeks at me while he drove made me nervous. “You don’t even know.” He shook his head.
I smiled. “Do I get an Orange Light Special now?”
Dio laughed. “Something like that, but my way.”
That was when he pulled into a nice-ass neighborhood. He drove until we were at the far end of the block. The house that sat in front of us was fucking beautiful.
“Who lives here?”
He turned the car off and looked at me. “We do. Come on, baby,” he said as he got out.
“Dio, a house? What the hell?”
He helped me out of the car and grabbed my hand. “If I’m grown enough to ask you to marry me, then I need to be able to put you in a house. Besides, I don’t need Chev telling me what I can and cannot do. We still have three years of school left, so I figured we’d get a house in Covana that would give us three years of equity, and then we can move.”
I laughed because most saw the menacing side of him, but I got all the good parts, and I loved every bit of it.
DIO
PRESS PLAY
Samara and I stood in front of the house I was able to purchase for her and me. My brother spoiled me, but with each dollar he gave me, a nigga was saving up for a down payment. This was already planned, but I was unsure how I was going to get here. I held Mars’ hand as I led her to the house. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out an eye mask and slid it over her eyes.
“Mars, I know you’re excited, and you think you know what’s about to happen, but you don’t. The title of princess doesn’t come easy, so I won’t be easy on you. Do you understand?”
She nodded excitedly. I opened the door to a dark house, illuminated only by the orange neon light streaming through the open doorway. Around the house were canvas paintings of Samara. She always painted everything she saw and how the world looked through her eyes, so I figured I’d show her what it looked like through mine. The paintings weren’t just in one color. Some were black-and-white, pencil, watercolor, acrylic, and sketches, but all the photos were of her. She had become the center of my world, and I needed her to know that. My little orange box sat in the center of the room while flowers and orangecandles filled the spaces. There was a single chair with a blank canvas and a tray of paint. I walked her further inside as I tried to get my mind right.
Coming up behind her. My hands caressed her arms, then her neck. “What color does love look like to you, Mars?”
“Love is like an orange,” she started.
As she went on, I unclasped her dress at the top, letting the front fall, exposing her sheer orange bra. “Orange at the height of spring. When it’s bright, it’s happy, and it matches the sun.” She paused.
By this time, I had unzipped the dress and let it fall to the floor. With or without the dress, Mars looked so fucking good. There had never been a day she hadn’t looked beautiful, even when she had those big-ass jeans on. My lips gently kissed her neck, then down her back as she tried to keep talking.
“Love is like brown, like you, Dio. Its,ooo,it’smm,” she moaned.
